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Key characteristics

Family: Thymelaeaceae
Height: 4 to 6 feet
Width: 4 to 6 feet
Flower color: Yellow
Foliage color: Medium green
Bloom time: Late winter to early spring
Light: Partial shade to full sun
Water: Regular watering, especially during dry spells
Maintenance: Minimal pruning after flowering
Growing zone: 7 to 10
Wildlife: Attracts pollinators such as bees and butterflies

Shrubs

Edgeworthia chrysantha

Paper Bush

Edgeworthia chrysantha, a deciduous shrub native to China, is prized for its fragrant flowers, attractive foliage, and distinctive bark. Growing to a height and spread of 4 to 6 feet, it forms a rounded shape with elongated, medium green leaves. One of its most striking features is its peeling bark, revealing smooth, cinnamon-colored layers that add winter interest when the shrub is leafless. Highly fragrant, tubular flowers appear in late winter to early spring before the foliage, clustered in spherical heads that create a stunning display of yellow, orange, or red blooms.

Light

Partial shade to full sun

Water

Regular watering, especially during dry spells

Bloom time

Late winter to early spring

Find this plant

Works well in

Shade Gardens
Fragrant Gardens
Winter Interest
Woodland Gardens

Companion plants

Leucothoe · Yew · Viola · Astilbe · Hellebores · Ferns

Design tip

Paper bush becomes especially architectural in winter, when its bare cinnamon-colored stems carry rounded flower clusters at their tips. Give its branching silhouette a backdrop, such as dark evergreen foliage, so the unusual structure remains prominent before the fragrant yellow flowers open.